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Susanne

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    Published Concertina Music

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    I've recently seen some bound volumes of music arranged for concertina, some with piano accompaniment.

     

    The publishers are variously, Scates, Blagrove, Wheatstone and Case and many of the arrangements are by Joseph Warren (I don't know this name) although George Case is the arranger for his own publications.

     

    As an example, here are 2 pages. A title page and 1 page of music.

     

    c2.jpg

    c1.jpg

     

    Anybody up for playing those runs on an anglo :o

     

    Howard Mitchell

     

    :P

    Guckulåt Efter Josefs Lars (continued)

    in Tunes /Songs

    Posted

    "7. Guckulåt efter Joseks Lars 2:27

    Mats Rehnberg writes "Even in Nås have several pipers existed. Some of them are known to their name. The foremost is without doubt Gucku Olof Olsson with the soldier name Svedman. The brother was a soldier with the name Sommar and like the father, Gucku Anders, a fiddler. He often played with his sons. In general, it was often pointed out in Nås, that the bagpipe was best heard in combination with the fiddle". (Per säckpipa, Ola fiddle)".

     

    Still doesn't explain what "Gucku" means. A name - a nickname? My wife shook her head when I asked what a "guckulåt" was - "Some tune from Dalarna".

     

    Hey, now finally something makes sense. In Dalarna, where Nås is situated, it is, or was, very common with names of houses and farms. Those names were a part of the persons' names to identify what house or farm someone came from. Gucku is a farm name, as it seems, and Gucku Olof Olsson was simply Olof Olsson from the Gucku farm. So, a Guckulåt must be a tune from the Gucku farm.

    World Map Of Concertina Players

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Haha, it works!! I've never managed to find my town on this thing before. And I've improved the statistics for EC players. B)

     

    It's cool to see Ennis there. Is there a way to see it more detailed? That would be cool. I was there in november 2004 for the trad festival. I still wonder if they have warm scones with cream and strawberry jam in Ennis. I didn't find real good scones until I got to Shannon airport. When I was in Cork they had them everywhere..

    Thumb Straps

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    How do I get thumbstraps for an English concertina, the cheapest way? I've seen them on that concertina spares page, but they cost a lot, do I have to pay that much for thumb straps? I made mine by denim, but I only had stretch, so they're getting bigger...they're quite neat, but I'll soon need to replace them and it was hard work making the right size etc and the holes, I'd be glad if I didn't have to make them myself the next time.

    It Is A Wheatstone!

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    I e-mailed the pictures of my concertina to the Wheatstone company, and today I got the reply that they confirm it really is a Wheatstone 56 key treble EC, just as Jim Lucas thought all the time. It is made around 1880-1890. That's so cool!!!!!!!! That I, who didn't know anything about concertinas, happened to run into a real Wheatstone that cost almost nothin.

    I've never paid much for any of my instruments, the one I've paid most for was my F-style mandolin that cost 6000 SEK with the case included, and that's still a cheap one so imagine how little money I've spent on my instruments, simply because I haven't had much money but still want to play music.

    My best instruments were the ones I paid least for. I got my German fiddle for free (!!), a great fiddle, and now my concertina that I paid 800 SEK for......... B) I like that.

    C.net Big Band

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    I used to do some online music cooperations (or whatever you may call it!) with someone from Mandolin Café some year ago, I recorded my mandolin back-up and singing and he added guitar and a second voice, it was great fun.....I'll see what I can do with this, I know only one of the tunes (Planxty Irwin) but I can probably learn the others, or at least add some mandolin back-up.

    Playing The Concertina

    in Teaching and Learning

    Posted

    I wonder if there is something I should think of when learning to play the concertina, I've been playing a couple of months now, I can play both by sheet music and by ear but I haven't concentrated enough yet to learn certain tunes well, but I'm planning to do that so I can bring my concertina to the jam events (spelmansstämmor) this summer. Should I use the same kind of phrasings as on the fiddle? What should I think of to play well rhythmically?

    Any hints are welcome. I don't know anyone nearby who knows the concertina so I have noone to teach me, hopefully I can go down to Skåne during the spring but I'm quite busy right now. There are lots of accordion players around but they seldom play polskor, Irish tunes, etc. I've tried to listen to some concertina music off the recorded links page, but there are so much ornamentation that I can't do yet, so it's hard to hear the simple melody and how I should be playing. Or is it just to play around and find my own thing?

    Anglo Top - English Flop ?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Oh no, not anglo vs english again!

     

    :P

    I think EC is a wonderful instrument. I'm a newbie on concertina, and from the beginning I wanted an anglo because "everyone" said that it was best for Irish music. But I found a cheap used EC and started learning, and now I think it is so handy (it's great not having to think about if I have to push or pull!) that I would never change it for an anglo. I can't see any reason why the EC wouldn't be suitable for Irish music.

    But, I didn't want to sound like a "my dad's better than your dad"- person, I just wanted to say that I hear of English concertinas here and there just as much as I hear of anglo concertinas and I don't think it's dying out. But, there seems to be some kind of attitude towards English concertinas, that "you can't play this or that on an English" and I don't like that. The EC is a great little instrument that can play most stuff.

    Anglo Tutors Vs English Concertina Etc

    in Teaching and Learning

    Posted

    As you all (or, some) know, I started learning English concertina two months ago, I downloaded some tutor book from the internet, but I didn't think it was much of use, mostly just tunes and simple music theory. Do you have experiences from the anglo tutors? Are there things there that are useful for English players?

     

    What I would like to know, are there things I should think of when I learn playing or is it just to play? My tutor book had a little chapter about bellows control, and said that the bellows were to be compared with bowing when playing fiddle, that the tune should be ended with closed bellows. Should I think of where I change "bellows direction" on an English concertina? (I don't hear any difference, and since it's the same tone whether I push or pull, there shouldn't be any difference) Do you folks play this way or do you just play? Will anything be a limitation later if I don't think of it now?

     

    I've learned to move around over the keys, I can play by sheet music and a little by ear (but that is slower). I concentrate on learning tunes and building up a repertoire. Do you think I should work on something else? With my beginner's eyes i don't see that there could be some technical stuff to work on. More timing issues, flow etc.

    C.net Players

    in Tunes /Songs

    Posted

    I think it seems like more Americans than Europeans use dial-up, most of the Americans I chat with use it, even for music downloads and stuff like that, because it is cheaper in America than in Europe. I use DSL and while I waited to get that fixed after my move, I used dial-up and just couldn't believe how much it costs!!!!! Even when I tried to limit my internet use I paid a fortune.

     

    Anyway, it would be nice to hear more recordings from beginners!! Then maybe I would get courage to post one too! I've almost learned Ballydesmond polka well enough to record it now.

    Pictures Of My Concertina

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Susanne

    I'd guess it is a Lachenal extended treble.

    I'm betting a Wheatstone, from 1896. ;)

     

    If Jim is correct (and he usually is) that would be very cool indeed. The fret work didn't look like a Wheatstone to me.

     

    By the by, the sound quality of the mandolin recording was very good. I could really hear the wood of your instrument. What is it?

     

    Edit: I've just checked out your music pictures and see what you have for "mandolini" a Gold Tone F model and I assume a Gold Tone A. Their banjos certainly are well regarded. It makes sense the mandolin would be of a similar quality. I'm not suprised about the F model for it had the tpyical "chop" or as I like to call it "bark". Don't know if it is a solid or laminate spruce top, but it sho' nuff' gots the sound.

     

    Thanks a lot for your compliments! It's very funny because I just had a wild discussion on the mandolin forum about Asian made mandolins (Gold Tone buys parts that are made in Korea or China), I was pretty upset because of the generalizing of Asian instruments that they're all bad crap, at least mandolins (that's all I know anything about) have been developed a lot since the 80's and now an Asian mandolin can be a great instrument (not all but many of them).

     

    Anyhow, to answer your question, yes, I have a Gold Tone GM-70, it's my newest mandolin and my first F-style. It has a wonderful sound and is very easy to play, I'm really satisfied with it. Gold Tone has a pretty good reputation I think. They also make banjos (as you mentioned) and mandolas.

    My A style mandolin is a Washburn. It's a good one for that low price but there's not as much attitude in the tone as the F-style has. I guess all my instruments (except my German fiddle and probably the concertina) are pretty low quality instruments compared to others but I'm satisfied with them.

     

    You can read more about the F-style mandolin here.

     

    I'm getting really excited about what you think about my concertina, if it's a Wheatstone or Lachenal it should be worth quite a lot I guess. I'll have to open it up to see the serial number.

    Pictures Of My Concertina

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted

    Yeah, the original thumb straps were in pieces and couldn't be fixed, so I had to make some new ones. The most firm fabric I could use would be denim and it looks pretty cool too....unofrtunately I only had stretch denim so they need to be replaced soon again. But not until I get a functioning screw driver of that size! I worked like crazy to have those little screws come off.

     

    By the way, thanks for your compliment on my St Anne's reel. It's a quite new recording, just a few days ago. I'm going to make more recordings soon. I'm going to start working on a new website soon too, this one was actually just a temporary thing as I wanted to build more than just a music page like that, but I never had time or inpsiration to start working on it.

     

    Lachenal? How do you see that?

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